All of it is real cool and top-notch technically even though far too advanced for a beginner level BASIC. I think there are only a few sample apps in Windows-classic-samples/Samples/Win7Samples/ that may be of some value as a source of inspiration.

Yeah, it's sad to see Microsoft's second best OS (after the defunct WinXP) going for good. I don't think the 2 alternatives to have an extra 3 years' extended support are going to succeed as the $$$ cost is going to be far too high even for corporate users. And there's no extended support plan at all for a Win 7 Ultimate that I'm still using as my main dev platform.

On a more positive note, my workstation already includes a Windows 10 Pro box that I'm using on a regular basis for debugging and compatibility tests, with a fair set of modern SW like MS Visual Studio/Code::Blocks+GCC, 3ds Max and Adobe Photoshop, etc. to match it. This has enabled me to already develop some skills for, and get somewhat used to, the ugliest OS I've ever had on my computers (apart from some most flagrant Linuxes).

Not that I have anything in particular against its productivity or feature set. It's just that I can hardly hold back my vomiting spasms from the mere looks of its disgusting misshaped kiddie's-first-gadget GUI.